B5878 - INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

The course aims to achieve advanced knowledge of the main contemporary theories of international relations (realism, liberalism, constructivism). At the end of the course, students will command the most important debates within the IR literature. They will have also developed the analytical skills necessary to understand the functioning of the contemporary international system.

Testi/Bibliografia

Programma del Corso

Il programma e i materiali assegnati per il corso di “Teoria delle Relazioni Internazionali” comprendono le seguenti letture obbligatorie:

1. Aron, Raymond. Peace and War: A Theory of International Relations. New York: Routledge, 2017. Part 1, Chapters II, III, and IV.

2. Evangelista, Matthew A. “Teaching Writing about International Relations.” In Jonathan Monroe, ed., Local Knowledges, Local Practices: Writing in the Disciplines at Cornell. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2003. Available at: https://matthewevangelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/teaching-writing-about-international-relations.pdf

3. Sterling-Folker, Jennifer. Making Sense of International Relations Theory. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006.

4. Walt, Stephen. “Alliance Formation and the Balance of Power.” International Security, no. 4 (Spring 1985): 3-43.

5. Waltz, Kenneth. Theory of International Politics. Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1979.

Letture secondarie che trattano tre principali paradigmi delle Relazioni Internazionali – Realismo, Costruttivismo e Liberalismo.

1. Bull, Hedley. “International Theory: The Case for a Classical Approach.” World Politics (18)3 (April 1966): pp. 361-77. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2009761?seq=1

2. Evangelista, Matthew A. “Wilson’s ideas, Carr’s critique and the role of Russia in the post-Soviet space.” In Enrico Fassi and Vittorio Emanuele Parsi, eds., Liberal World Order and Beyond. Milan: Vita & Pensiero, 2021. Available at: https://matthewevangelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/evangelista-wilsons-ideas-carrs-critique-copy.pdf

3. Moravcsik, Andrew. “Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics.” International Organization (51)4 (Autumn 1997): 513-53.

4. Morgenthau, Hans. Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. Reviewed by Kenneth Thompson. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985. Chapter 1.

5. Wendt, Alexander. “Anarchy Is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics.” International Organization, No. 2 (1992): 391-425.

Organizzazione del corso

Lezione 1: Introduction

Readings:

1. Sterling-Folker, Jennifer. Making Sense of International Relations Theory. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006, pp. 4-7.

2. Waltz, Kenneth. Theory of International Politics. Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1979. Chapter 1.

Lezione 2: Realism and Neorealism

Readings:

1. Sterling-Folker, Jennifer. Making Sense of International Relations Theory. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006, pp. 15-21.

3. Machiavelli, Nicollo. The Prince. Translated by Peter Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Introduction (pp. 8-16) and Chapter 3 .

4. Waltz, Kenneth. “Realist Thought and Neorealist Theory.” Journal of International Affairs (44)1 (Spring 1990): 21-37.

Lezione 3: Classical Realism vs. Offensive Realism

Readings:

1. Morgenthau, Hans. Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. Reviewed by Kenneth Thompson. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985, Chapter 1.

5. Mearsheimer, John. The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. New York: Norton & Company, 2001. pp. 4-15.

Lezione 4.1: Constructivism

Readings:

1. Sterling-Folker, Jennifer. Making Sense of International Relations Theory. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006, pp. 127-36.

2. Jepperson, Ronald L., Alexander Wendt, and Peter J. Katzenstein. “Norms, Identity, and Culture in National Security.” In Peter J. Katzenstein, ed., The Culture of National Security, pp. 33-75. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996.

3. Klotz, Audie. Norms in International Relations. The Struggle Against Apartheid. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995. pp. 13-39.

Lezione 4.2: Liberalism

Readings:

1. Moravcsik, Andrew. “Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics.” International Organization, No. 51/4 (Autumn 1997): 513-53.

2. Owen, John M. “How Liberalism Produces Democratic Peace.” International Security (19)2 (Fall 1994): 87-125.

Lezione 5: Institutionalism

Readings:

Simmons, Beth A. and Lisa L. Martin. "International Organizations and Institutions." In Lisa L Martin and Beth A. Simmons, eds., International Institutions: An International Organization Reader, pp. 192-211. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2001. Available at: https://scholar.harvard.edu/bsimmons/files/SimmonsMartin2002.pdf

Lezione 6: Other Approaches to International Politics: Marxism, Postmodernism, and Feminism

Readings:

1. Plamenatz, John. Karl Marxʹs Philosophy of Man (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975), chapter 6.

2. Sterling-Folker, Jennifer. Making Sense of International Relations Theory. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006, pp. 169-217 and 263-99.

Lezione 7: Domestic Structure and International Relations

Readings:

1. Evangelista, Matthew A. “Domestic Structure and International Change.” In G. John Ikenberry and Michael Doyle, eds., New Thinking in International Relations Theory, pp. 202-28. Boulder: Westview, 1977.

2. Katzenstein, Peter. “International Relations and Domestic Structures: Foreign Economic Policies of Advanced Industrial States.” International Organization, (30)1 (Winter 1976): 1-45.

Lezione 8: Alliances in International Relations: Why They Matter

Readings:

1. Walt, Stephen. “Alliance Formation and the Balance of Power.” International Security, no. 4 (Spring 1985): 3-43.

2. Walt, Stephen. The Origins of Alliances. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1987, pp. 1-49. Available at: https://web.stanford.edu/class/ips198/docs/Walt.pdf

3. Elefteriu, Gabriel. “Why Alliances Matter.” Council on Geostrategy (December 2023): 1-11. Available at: https://www.geostrategy.org.uk/app/uploads/2023/12/GSPE02.Why-alliances-matter.pdf

Lezione 9: Interwar Period (1919-1939): The Return of Power Politics and Anarchic Order

Mandatory Readings:

1. Waltz, Kenneth. Theory of International Politics. Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1979. Chapter 6.

2. Wendt, Alexander. “Anarchy Is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics.” International Organization, No. 2 (1992): 391-425.

3. Aron, Raymond. Peace and War: A Theory of International Relations. New York: Routledge, 2017, pp. 47-57.

Supplementary Readings:

1. Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan or The Matter, Forme, and Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill. London: Andrew Crooke, 1651. Chapter 10.

2. Machiavelli, Nicollo. The Prince. Translated by Peter Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Chapter 10.

Lezione 10: Cold War Diplomacy and International System

Readings:

1. Westad, Arne Odd. The Global Cold War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 8-39.

2. Williams, Phil. Crisis Management: Confrontation and Diplomacy in the Nuclear Age. London: Martin Robertson, 1976.

Lezione 11: Post-Cold War Politics and Globalization

Readings:

1. Westad, Arne Odd. The Global Cold War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 364-96.

2. Sorensen, George.” IR Theory after the Cold War.” British International Studies Association (1998): 83-100. Available at: https://library.fes.de/libalt/journals/swetsfulltext/10398555.pdf

Lezione 12: The EU as a Global Actor

Readings:

1. Andreatta, Filippo and Lorenzo Zambernardi. “The European Union and Theories of International Relations.” In Christopher Hill, Michael Smith, and Sophie Vanhoonacker, eds., International Relations and the European Union, pp. 46-63. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

2. Ruggie, Gerard John, Peter Katzenstein, Robert O. Keohanepp, and Philippe C. Schmitter. “Transformations in World Politics: The Intellectual Contributions of Ernst B. Haas.” Annual Review of Political Science. Volume 8 (2005): 271-96 (pp. 277-87). Available at: https://pkatzenstein.org/data/annurev.polisci.8.082103.pdf

Lezione 13: Student’s Presentation and Discussions

Power, Politics, and Alliance Formation in International Relations

Core Readings:

1. Wendt, Alexander. “Anarchy Is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics.” International Organization, No. 2 (1992): 391-425.

2. Walt, Stephen. “Alliance Formation and the Balance of Power.” International Security, no. 4 (Spring 1985): 3-43.

3. Cha, Victor D. Powerplay. “Origins of the U.S. Alliance System in Asia.” International Security (34)3 (Winter 2009/2010): 158-96.

Lezione 16: International Relations Theories and Realpolitik

Readings:

1. Williams, Michael C. The Realist Tradition and the Limits of International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2005. Chapter 2, pp. 52-82.

2. Rathbun, Brian. “The Rarity of Realpolitik. What Bismarck’s Rationality Reveals about International Politics.” International Security. MIT Press (43)1 (Summer 2018): 100-37. Available at: https://direct.mit.edu/isec/issue/43/1

Lezione 15: International Organizations in International Politics

Readings:

1 Aron, Raymond. Peace and War: A Theory of International Relations. New York: Routledge, 2017, pp. 717-25.

2 Katzenstein, Peter, Robert O. Keohane, and Stephen D. Krasner. “International Organization and the Study of World Politics.” International Organization (52)4 (Autumn 1998): 645-85.

Lezione 16: International Relations and Africa

Readings:

1. Nkiwane, Tandeka C. “Africa and International Relations: Regional Lessons for a Global Discourse.” International Political Science Review (22)3 (2001): 279-90.

Lezione 17: Asia in Global Politics

Readings:

1. Katzenstein, Peter and Takashi Shiraishi. “Conclusion: Regions in World Politics: Japan and Asia-Germany in Europe.” In Takashi Shiraishi and Peter Katzenstein, eds., Network Power: Japan and Asia, pp. 341-81. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997.

Lezione 18: The World After 2022 Ukraine War

Readings:

1. Lebow, Richard N. “International Relations Theory and the Ukrainian War.” Brill (44)1 (July 2022): 111-35.

Lezione 19: A New World Order: China’s Perspective

Readings:

1. Bremmer, Ian. “China’s push for a new world order.” GZERO (September 2025). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iqUwxOnGIc

2. Zhang, Baohui. “China’s Rise and the New World Order.” In Brian McKercher, ed., The Routledge Handbook of Diplomacy and Statecraft, pp. 46-59. London: Routledge, 2022.

Lezione 20: Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Marine Sargsyan